Happy helpers: Executive council of Students hosts toy, coat drive

By: Shaya Rogers, Staff Reporter | Photo By: Shaya Rogers, Staff Reporter

The Executive Council of Students is work­ing with local organizations to sponsor a coat and toy drive running Nov. 19 – Dec. 13.

Donation boxes have been placed in all CNM Connect locations. New, unwrapped toys as well as new or lightly used coats will be donated to fami­lies in time for the holidays, said ECOS Admi n i s t r a t ive Officer Emily Sarvis.

“We just wanted to make it easier for students to help families in need, and we are really excited to be able to involve all cam­puses,” she said.

There are many mothers and fathers attend­ing CNM, and she encourages them to see if they have any old coats in their closet, she said.

Continue reading “Happy helpers: Executive council of Students hosts toy, coat drive”

Governing Board approves raise, bonus for President Winograd

By: Stefany Olivas, Managing Editor | Photo Provided By: CNM.edu

President Kathie Winograd’s total annual income will now be more than $260, 000 from a base annual salary of $212,000, because of a measure approved by the CNM Governing Board at the November meeting. The mea­sure also increased Winograd’s annual retention bonus from five to 10 percent of her annual income.

This puts Winograd’s salary $93,000 more than the average commu­nity college president. Community College presidents earn an average of $167,000, according to the American Association of Community Colleges recent study “Compensation and Benefits of Community College CEO’s: 2012.”

Winograd directed all questions about the pay increase to Marketing and Communications Director Brad Moore, who said this newest raise allowed her the same 3 percent recurring raise other employees received over the summer, but no other employ­ees receive a reten­tion bonus.

Continue reading “Governing Board approves raise, bonus for President Winograd”

Registration woes

By: Jonathan Baca, Senior Reporter | Photo By: Jonathan Gamboa, Production Manager

Class options limit welding students’ progress

Students in the Welding program are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to register for required courses, said Full-time Welding Instructor Ron Hackney.

After complet­ing the first or second terms of their structured qualifica­tion programs, many students who tried to register for the spring semester found no open seats and full waiting lists for nearly all of the required courses, said Welding major Austin Wessell.

“When I tried to register for my next term classes, just about every class was filled up and had a waiting list before I was even allowed to sign up,” said Wessell.

Continue reading “Registration woes”

Black Friday deals without getting trampled

By: Adriana Avila, Staff Reporter

Black Friday, that special time of the year when arguments ring out like carols throughout mega store parking lots, when festive brawls for the year’s hottest items are in season, and loss of sleep for the year’s top deals is an acceptable trade-off.

People travel far from their homes for these kinds of deals when there are the same types of deals are around the corner. Nob Hill is a prime example of shopping locally where deals are easily found and the satisfaction of the prize is the same. Shopping locally can pay off big. Here are a few stores that prove commercial busi­nesses are not the only stores who partici­pate with the Black Friday holiday.

Birdsong Used Books

1708 Central Ave SE, 87106

Birdsong is holding a week long Black Friday sale that began on Nov. 19. All items in the store are 20 percent off.

The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more informa­tion visit birdsongused­books.com.

Continue reading “Black Friday deals without getting trampled”

Coffee house opens near Main Campus

By: Joanthan Baca, Senior Reporter

Small business owner Michael Palombo said he is on a mission to make the world a better place one cup of locally roasted coffee at a time.

Fans of Film Café, located at 504 Yale SE, aims to bring together people who enjoy art, film, music, and good food with a new concept; the micro-cinema café, he said. Just a few minute’s walk from Main campus, Palombo said he hopes his coffee shop will bring good food to a neighborhood sorely in need of a community hang out.

“I’ve been in this building for three years, and I had wanted to try this idea of a micro-cin­ema café. I would like to bring better food closer to CNM, because there isn’t a lot of that around here,” said Palombo.

Palombo said he is committed to keep­ing things local, serv­ing locally roasted coffee, and organic burritos and pastries delivered daily from Santa Fe’s Chocolate Maven Café and Bakery. While the food and coffee will be top notch, Palombo said the main focus of the café is in the name.

Continue reading “Coffee house opens near Main Campus”

Main, South Valley Campus buildings to get updates

By: Daniel Johnson, Staff Reporter | Photo By: Scott M. Roberts

The L-Building on Main Campus and the main building on South Valley Campus will receive $10.5 million for reno­vations thanks to the passage of Bond C, said Vice President of Finance and Operations Katherine Ulibarri.

The L-Building, which houses the science lab classes, will receive a larger percentage of the funding to update the heating, cooling and ventilation systems, she said.

“The students deserve a comfortable working space that is updated with state of the art equipment,” she said.

Continue reading “Main, South Valley Campus buildings to get updates”

Disbursement Discrepencies, Part II

By: Daniel Johnson, Staff Reporter

Enrollment Services VP sets record straight

The Financial Aid office is working to speed up the process of disbursement to get financial aid out to stu­dents faster, said Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services Eugene Padilla.

In response to Volume 18, Issue 8 “Disbursement Discrepancies” article, Padilla said he wanted to clarify the information provided by Director of Financial Aid Lee Carrillo and Director of Enrollment Services Glenn Damiani about how and why financial aid disbursement occurs.

One way being considered to speed up disbursement is by switching to electronic pro­cessing, which could shorten the wait by two or three days, he said.

The idea of giving students access to funds for buying sup­plies that cannot be purchased at the book store earlier than disbursement is something that is also being looked into, said Padilla.

Continue reading “Disbursement Discrepencies, Part II”

Thanksgiving dinner on a college budget

By: Jyllian Roach, Editor-In-Chief | Photos Courtesy: Deyona Gundlach & Jason Andrews

Tired of the same old thing every Thanksgiving? Here are some great Southwestern style recipe ideas designed for the  low-budget cook. This meal, which served 12 people wit h leftovers, cost about $95 — less than $8 per person.

Cornbread-Chorizo Stuffing

  • Put 1 pound of chorizo (casings removed) in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat until crumbly and brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
  • Cook carrots and celery until soft.
  • Pour a boxed cornbread stuffing mix, substituting half the water with chicken stock, into a casserole dish.
  • Add chorizo, vegetables, and ½ cup of butter and mix thoroughly.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
  • Continue reading “Thanksgiving dinner on a college budget”

On minimum wages and living wages in Albuquerque and CNM 12 November 2012

Last week voters in the city of Albuquerque, by an unambiguous 2-1 margin, approved a $1 per hour increase in the mini­mum wage, taking it to $8.50 per hour and leav­ing little doubt about their feelings about the state of economic inequality that has come to define our nation. We wonder what the city electorate would think about the compensa­tion for part-time faculty at Central New Mexico Community College.

A part-time fac­ulty member with a Ph.D. in the school of Communication, Humanities and Social Sciences earns just under $2,800 per course sec­tion. It doesn’t make any difference whether the doctorate was earned 30 days earlier or whether it has been followed by 30 years of experience. CNM compensation does not recognize seniority, years of loyal service, or career accomplishments.

No part-time instruc­tor has one scintilla of job security. They work semester-long contracts, with no assurance there will be courses to teach the following semester.

Continue reading “On minimum wages and living wages in Albuquerque and CNM 12 November 2012”

Editorial: Make it count

Editorial By: The CNM Chronicle Editorial Board

President Winograd’s retention bonus is too much money. As mentioned in this week’s article, “President of CNM receives pay raise,” the measure was approved in November’s Governing Board meet­ing to increase her retention bonus from five to 10 percent.

This additional money would be a small but encouraging bonus for CNM faculty, who with the large amount of work and small amount of pay, need much more encourage­ment to stick around.

It is good that she received a two per­cent non-recurring and three percent recurring raise, along with the rest of CNM employees, but there was no need for a raise in her reten­tion bonus.

The retention bonus increase alone adds up to more than an additional $21,000 annually on top of her regular salary.

Continue reading “Editorial: Make it count”